Every Cloud. . .: This N That

Potty Training: Yes! We're fully potty trained! It took lots of marshmallows to convince Maddie that the potty was the place for poopin', but it was worth it. The $3 we spent on marshmallows nets a monthly savings of $50 in diapers. Not a bad fiscal move, if I do say so myself. And the half-bag of size 6 diapers goes to my friend and student Sabine, whose 3 year old son has yet to master the toilet.

Bath-time Fun: We keep a bottle of bubbles near the tub. Not bath bubbles, but blowing bubbles. I seldom let the girls use it because I'm usually anxious to get them in and out and off to bed. But tonight they played with them and had such fun that I couldn't resist taking a few photos. Ok, more than a few. Fine, about forty or fifty. But I just couldn't resist those giggles!

Maddie giggled each time she caught a bubble so infectiously that

we all laughed with her.

If it looks like she's trying to eat the wand, it's because she is.

She hasn't figured out how to blow it yet!

This is the calm before the storm. In the next frame, Maddie has popped

Angie's bubble and well, you can imagine the rest.

Spring Learning: Angie has been anxious to take pictures of birds and make a bird book of her own for about a year now. I'm fleshing out plans for a bird filled spring and summer, including bird feeders, nesting boxes, bird houses and flower. We may need to borrow a telephoto lens if our little camera doesn't work out. And we'll have to learn patience and quietness, a task that will be much easier to accomplish while Maddie naps!

Smarty Pants: Both girls astonish me with their intelligence. Angie has suddenly become a fluent reader with the bit of phonics she has under her belt. She no longer sounds out the words in painful progression from one sound to the next and is picking up spelling along the way. She's eager to read stories and can even figure out words that she's not learned rules for yet based on context. And Maddie is quietly learning her alphabet using the Fridge Phonics set from LeapFrog Learning. Ok, so it's not really quiet, because that thing blares out silly songs and sayings almost constantly, but she's learning which letters make which sounds and what they look like without a whole lot of help from me.

Sister, Sister: It is wonderful to see the children playing together, mimicking one another and loving each other. It's not so wonderful to see them arguing over a toy, pushing each other away from a game or screaming at each other...but we're getting over those things bit by bit. And before too long, they'll be the best of friends!

At The Zoo: We've a zoo near us that we have a membership for. As soon as the weather turned nice enough to go out in a jacket, we were there, watching the animals, riding the carousel and trying not to be eaten by a giant snake!